


The Principles of Lying

by TheLadySif



Category: Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Crush, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Lies, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Secrets, Students
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-09-01 18:03:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16770157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLadySif/pseuds/TheLadySif
Summary: She knew as well as he did that whatever lies he had concocted were only going to last him so long before the truth was found out and all the lies that Loki had told would be unraveled.





	1. So You've Got A Secret

Sif groaned as she clawed through the mountains of blankets and pillows on her bed searching for her phone so she could silence the damn alarm that rudely awakened her from a good night's sleep. Her arms swept underneath the pillows until she had extended her arm and felt something small move against her fingertips and then heard a loud clunk as her phone collided with the ground as it fell off her bed. She groaned into a pillow before hoisting herself up to peer over the edge to the abyss of her bedroom floor. Her phone continued to screech and buzz until she grabbed it, squinting against the bright screen, and dismissed the alarm. 

_8:40 a.m._

She glimpsed the time before falling back into the luscious comfort of her many blankets and pillows. She had only closed her eyes for a moment before they snapped open and stared at the time again. She cursed under her breath and quickly scrambled out of her bed. Quickly, she grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor, stripping from her pajamas as fast as she could before putting on the questionably-clean jeans. She hurried to her dresser and grabbed a bra and shirt to quickly change into after putting on deodorant and throwing her hair up into a messy ponytail. She grabbed her phone to glance at the weather. It was warm enough to forgo a jacket but she grabbed a hoodie, wrapping it around her waist, just in case the classrooms were cold. 

She grabbed her bag and a soda from the fridge as she rushed out the door. She reasoned she would have to forgo breakfast if she wanted to make it to class on time and she could always grab something during a break between classes if she needed. If it hadn't been the first day of classes, she would have just slept in but she wanted to make sure she got a good seat in her classes, at least the ones she cared about for that matter, but she knew she would have to wake up on time from now on because her first class of each day was French, and if she didn't pass the class, she would never advance to the foreign language class she actually needed in order to get her degree. 

Luckily, it was only about a ten minute walk from her place to the campus, but that didn't stop Sif from hurrying, nearly getting hit by a car on the way to her class. She checked her schedule and groaned again to herself as she realized she would have to climb two flights of stairs to get to class. She took them two at a time, nearly tripping on one of the steps- and by some miracle, caught herself before she tripped up the stairs. Sif searched for her class number on the third floor before finding it tucked away in the last corridor. She finally breathed as she slid into a seat in the second row, shrugging off the heavy backpack on her back. A weight was lifted from her shoulders both figuratively and literally as she glanced at the clock and realized she made it, five minutes early even.

The professor smiled at her as her eyes caught his, and she gave a strained smile back. She still couldn't believe she was required to have a foreign language but it was required by her degree. Actually, the academic requirement was a second year language but after failing Spanish in high school, she had vowed to never take it again so that was the reason why she had settled for first year French when picking out her classes. She grabbed out her monthly planner and wrote the time out for her class for each day with a large star by each one to help her remember. The seats filled up in the class quickly and Sif was glad that she had gotten to class on time because if she hadn't, she was sure she would have ended up in a seat on the opposite side of the room in front of girl who just accidentally spilled her ice coffee all over her desk and the guy sitting in front of her. Sif glanced at the empty seat in front of her. Maybe it would stay empty and she could toss her bag on the chair instead of the floor.

The professor looked up at the clock as it aligned to 9:00 a.m. He turned to the class to speak when the door opened again and someone hurried to the seat in front of her. " _Bonjour_!" The professor greeted. "Before we begin, there were coupe of things that I wanted to go over quickly. First off, I will be speaking in French ninety-percent of the time as I am required to by the department to do so. I can stop to explain something you don't understand if you have questions but we will speaking in french most of the time-" Sif wanted to slam her head against the desk. This class was going to be a struggle wasn't it? "-please take advantage of tutoring on campus. That being said, the seats your in now will be your seats for the rest of the class so I can keep track of you all and-" _Poor coffee guy_ , she lamented for half a moment, "-because if you're in the first, third, and fifth rows, the person behind you in the second, fourth, and last rows will be your partner for our partner activities and group projects. Go ahead and introduce yourself to each other and grab each other's numbers." 

Sif held her breath as the guy in front of her turned around but soon she was face to face with someone she hadn't heard from in so long that she would have sworn he was dead. She tried to remember the last time she had seen him. Was it Thor's graduation party? He had changed so much since high school, he had cut the greasy long hair he had back then and now his hair was much shorter, fitting him better she thought. He had definitely lost all the baby fat in his cheeks and it gave him a longer, sharper face.

"Sif?" He questioned with confused look on his face that matched hers.

"Loki?" She echoed back to him. "Last I heard you got accepted into some snooty business school far far away."

"Keeping tabs on me, are you?" Loki asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. 

"No way-" Sif began to protest before the teacher interrupted everyone again and continued class by going over the syllabus.

Sif focused on the teacher as best as she could, glancing at the back of Loki's head every so often. Was this real right now? Was she in the same French class as Loki Odinson? _First year French with **Loki** **?**_

He gave her a quick smile as the class concluded and everyone packed up their belongings. "I would have never pegged you as someone who wanted to take French," he told her as he slung his bag over his shoulder. 

"I failed Spanish, no way I was going through that again. Didn't you take Spanish as well back in high school?" She asked him as she packed up her notebook.

Loki shook his head before shrugging, "All my art classes counted as foreign language. I didn't have to take one until now."

"At UA? Your posh business-law school doesn't have foreign language classes?" Sif questioned as they left the classroom.

"No, they did. French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and more but I... I decided to change majors so... here I am," Loki answered, shoving his free hand into his pocket. 

Sif felt her stomach grumble at her, annoyed at being neglected and unfed. "So you're new to campus then? I guess I'll have to show you around. Do you have a class soon?"

"My next class isn't until one so I've got time if you want to show me around."

"Lucky. Let's go get food first and then I can show you around for a bit until my next class," Sif gestured in the direction of the student center across the campus quad. She pulled out her phone and waited for the school's phone app to load so she could double-check her schedule for the day as she started to make small talk with Loki, "So what have you been up to recently?"

"Not much. I just moved to the area, renting an apartment not too far from here, only like a 10 minute drive. What about you?" He inquired, glancing at her every so often.

"I've got an apartment right by campus. It's a ten minute walk. My roommate's a culinary student so she'll make things and asks me try to them. We get along well," Sif smiled before looking back to her phone. 

She sent off a quick text to Thor since the two of them were still on friendly terms. She hadn't seen Thor much since he had started dating his current girlfriend. He was sure she was the right one for him but Sif had her doubts. They were complete and utter opposites, much like Thor and Loki were. 

_You're not going to believe this! You"ll never guess who I bumped into today!_

"Oh, I almost forgot- could you do me a huge favor?" Loki asked her, stopping off to the side of the sidewalk.

Sif looked up from her phone with skeptical eyes. In the past, doing huge favors for Loki always seemed to backfire for her in the end- like the time he had asked her for a ride from play practice after school and found out he had pranking the principal's office instead and several students saw her car fleeing the vicinity. She got detention for a week after trying to argue with the principal about her involvement in the prank. "What kind of favor?" She asked him carefully.

"Can you not mention to Thor or my family that I'm here?" He asked after a moment of looking down at the ground and shuffling his feet.

Sif felt her phone buzz and she pocketed it for the moment. "Why not?" 

"I can't tell you," Loki answered finally looking at her. His eyes met her with a fierceness and she knew deep down that she shouldn't pester him for any more details into the matter, but she was still curious as to why he didn't want anyone to know where he was. He sighed after a moment and kicked a rock on the ground across the sidewalk. "It's nothing bad, It's just... I just don't want them to know. They'd worry after me." 

Sif regarded him for a moment before slowly inquiring, "You're sure that it's nothing bad?"

The corner of his mouth twitched upward into the familiar smirk she knew all too well. "I promise," he replied. Sif eyed him warily before the rumbling of her stomach reminded her of their purpose.

"Come on, troublemaker. You can help me with our French homework while we eat," Sif grabbed his arm and pulled him with her as they continued in their quest for a decent meal in the student center. Sif glanced at her phone while she was in line behind Loki, who was currently distracted by the menu he was glancing over. 

_?_

Sif rolled her eyes at Thor's short text before quickly typing back to him. 

_Your brother! He's in my class! He was being a bit weird tho, told me not to tell you that he's here._

She paused for a moment, her eyes flickering to Loki and internally debating whether or not she should text that to Thor.

Loki glanced back at her with a grin, "So what are you getting?"

"Pizza bagel," Sif answered before she erased the message she had typed as she quickly changed her mind. " You?"

"I can't decide but you can go ahead of me since you know what you want," Loki replied, stepping off to the side so that Sif could step in front of him. Sif stepped forward and looked at her phone again before she typed out another message.

_Your brother, I bumped into him while getting coffee before heading to UA. It reminded me that we needed to hang out again! You still owe me a game of Smash bros!_

Sif pocketed her phone once again as they were called up to the cashier. She opened her mouth but Loki interjected before she could speak, "Two pizza bagels and a lemonade, please." She stared at him and he shrugged his shoulder. "I owe you one," was his only reply as he extended the money from his wallet to pay for their food. Sif grabbed her phone again, feeling it buzz with a new message from Thor. She laughed to herself when she saw it was a little GIF of an owl saying _"Who?"_ Sif bit her lip as she glanced to Loki again. She erased part of the message that she had typed before replacing it.

_One of your exes. Lol. You haven't hung out with me much since you got that new girlfriend! It reminded me that we needed to hang out again! You still owe me a game of Smash bros!_

She sent the message and grinned at Loki as he handed her the bag containing the bagels. Sif shook the bag at him a bit mockingly. "Good to know you don't eat the souls of the innocent," Sif laughed. 

"Nope, just a bagel," Loki smiled as they went to grab seats at a table nearby. Sif's phone buzzed again as they sat down and she opened it to see the new message from Thor. 

_Yeah! Let me know your plans and we can get the gang back together! I'm sure everyone will be free besides Loki. He's still studying at that fancy business school._

Sif looked up at Loki as he opened the bag for the bagels and grabbed one of them before taking a careful bit out of the hot bagel. Sif wondered for a moment how he was really doing right now. They'd been friends long enough that whatever was going on with him was clearly hidden behind a well placed and well kept mask. Today, she had only seen behind the mask for a moment before he covered it up once again. In that brief moment, she had seen that he looked upset and lonely. It was why she hesitated in telling Thor the truth. Whatever had happened to him, it hurt him deeply and what Loki probably needed more than anything was someone to rely on. Yet, she knew as well as he did that whatever lies he had concocted were only going to last him so long before the truth was found out and all the lies that Loki had told would be unraveled. Sure, it was wrong for her to lie to Thor when she knew the truth but the truth should come from Loki if anyone was going to tell Thor what was really going on. 

Sif grabbed her bagel from the bag and picked at it as she looked at Loki again. 

Besides, Sif reasoned that Loki was the only one who knew what was going on inside that head of his. 


	2. Today you're a fool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter but I wanted to make another update before my crazy work week!

"This is the worst thing ever," Sif groaned loudly into her hands as she covered her face to stop staring at her French homework before her for only a brief moment.

"It's numbers, Sif. They're not that bad," Loki tried to reason with her as he looked down at the woman currently laying her head against his upper thigh and using him as a pillow in the middle of the quad. Sif looked up at him from behind her hands and glared at him.

A few weeks in class had passed by- Sif wasn't sure if it was due to the fact that they had classes together or if it was due to the fact that she was spending so much time studying with Loki- but the two of them had really become better friends with each other as of late. Sif would send him funny little pictures of memes she found on the internet and Loki would send her vine compilations he'd find after spending hours of watching them on YouTube.

"It's the fours! Quatre and quatorze and quarante!" She complained as she sunk back against him. "And then what is this bullshit after sixty-nine? Soixante-dix?

"It's sixty plus ten, Sif. It's basic math," Loki chided as he looked back to his notes from the lecture.

"But what about ninety-nine? Quatorze-"

"Quatre," Loki corrected

"Quatre vingt dix-neuf? Four and twenty and nineteen?" Sif poked his thigh with her mechanical pencil.

"It's four twenties-" Loki began before Sif rudely interrupted him.

"Blaze it."

"Which makes eighty plus nineteen. It's not difficult." Loki explained to her shaking his head. She felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he shifted to fish it out while trying not to disturb her too much.

_You free tonight?_

Loki glanced briefly at Sif still going over numbers on the worksheet they were given.

_Depends. Why?_

He scrolled through his other notifications for a moment before his phone buzzed again.

_You're always so busy! Come visit me! :( I miss you._

Loki sighed internally and was halfway through responding in another message when a new message popped up.

_Don't make me come visit you! I'll stay for a week!_

Loki squinted at the message in annoyance before typing out a new message.

_Fine. I'll visit. No parties._

He looked at Sif who was currently on her phone in the middle of Google Translating her homework. He reached over and snatched it from her hands. "We talked about this! No Google Translating the assignments!" He held it away from her grabbing hands, knowing she'd be too comfortable to want to move to grab it.

"It's the fours!" Sif exclaimed, trying not-so-hard to grab her phone before plopping down in defeat.

He felt her phone buzz in his hand and he looked to it out of habit from looking at his own. His heart skipped a beat as he stared at the message notification.

_Hey you free tonight?_

He wanted to delete the message as soon as he sees it. He can feel his heart rate speeding up in his chest. _It's a silly thing to be worked up over_ , he tried to reason with himself. He takes a moment to breathe before he handed her phone back to her. 

"Thor messaged you," Loki avoided her gaze, pulling the worksheet up to cover his face. 

"You've got nothing to worry about, troublemaker. He doesn't know you're here, I promise," Sif assured him as she puts her phone down beside her. "He's probably just getting back to me about our game night he owes me."

His phone buzzed a second later. He stared at the screen again.

_Can't I just invite a few friends? Five tops._

Loki sighed to himself in annoyance before typing out another message and sending it.

_No way. Besides, your friends are the worst._

"Are you struggling as well?" Sif asked him, poking his thigh again.

"Not with the homework," Loki answered.

_:( You're the worst._

_J_ _K. You're not._

Loki stared down at Sif before he ran a hand through his hair. He was going to regret this-

"Are you free tonight?" He asked her, internally cringing at every word coming out of his mouth. "Thor wants me to visit him and I can handle only so much of him right now. I'd owe you one if you could."

"Oh is that why he messaged me? He wants to celebrate your visit?" Sif teased him, sitting up and packing her homework up.

"No parties. I will insist it be the three of us," Loki said to her, packing up his own homework. He was going to be too distracted now with the stress to work on anything anyways. "Pizza and video games only."

"That's fine by me," Sif agreed with a shrug. "We've got class in the morning so I don't want to be partying anyways."

"I'll drive the two of us too. It'll be easier to carpool than to go in separate vehicles," Loki suggested to Sif's surprise, but she would let Loki explain that to Thor if he inquired.

Loki grabbed his phone and typed out a message to his brother, hitting send and locking his phone before Sif could see what it said.

* * *

When they got to Thor's apartment, Thor didn't look as surprised as Sif thought he would be at seeing the two of them arrive together. Despite Loki's insists, Thor's roommate Hogun hung out with them as they played through rounds of Smash Bros. 

Thor pulled Sif into the kitchen when Loki and Hogun finally got matched against. "I just wanted to say thanks for putting up with Loki. I can't imagine it's been easy," Thor said to her as he handed her a can of soda. 

"It's no problem. He's not all bad," Sif answered as she opened the soda and took a sip from it.

"I couldn't believe it when Loki said you two were dating. I even said as much as him. _Sif? No way_." Sif swallowed hard before she turned to look at Loki, who was currently absorbed in Smash Bros that he was playing against Hogun in currently. "He told me you wanted to keep it private since you guys just started dating. I'm sorry for bringing it up but you know Loki has always thought he's never good enough for anyone. It makes me happy to know you two have gotten together."

"He's going through a hard time," Sif said looking back at Thor. "He just needs someone right now. I should check on him. He's always putting up a false bravado when everything's not okay."

Sif pulled Loki into the kitchen after Thor and Hogun began their round, feigning about needed help in ordering a pizza. "So which kind of pizza do you want?" Loki asked her as he grabbed some of the To-go menus from Thor's fridge.

"Anything is fine by me, _babe_." Sif answered in reply, watching Loki freeze beside her for a moment before turning towards her. "If you're going to lie to your brother about me, you should probably be honest with me first, especially when there's a whole hour of a car ride to Thor's apartment in the first place."

"Sif..." Loki began to say but she turned to him and interrupted him first.

"I mean it, Loki. You're going to tell me everything that's going on with you and why you need to lie to Thor about our relationship tonight on the ride home or I'll tell Thor the truth about you going to school at UA," Sif told him before grabbing the pizza menu from his hand. "Until then, I'm gonna kick your ass in the game and eat pizza, babe."

Loki remained silent as she ordered the pizza. The silence between them was annoyingly obvious even as the ringing from Sif's phone flooded her ear. Sif could feel her guilt consume her as she waited for the phone to be picked up by the person on the other end. As Loki headed back into the living room, Sif ordered a cheese pizza and a pepperoni pizza for them. Sif watched Loki from the doorway as he sat down on side of the couch and appeared to be pouting for getting caught in another lie. 

She knew he always makes things more difficult on himself than need be, but she knew that what she said to Thor earlier was right as well. Whatever Loki was currently going through, it was clear he needed someone to rely on. She took a deep breath before she re-entered the living room and sat down beside him on the couch, laying her head down on his shoulder and offering her hand to him. He accepted her offer after a moment of staring at her hand. 

By the time, they reached the car, Sif was thoroughly exhausted from all the over-stimulation of the bright lights from the television and loud game effects, not too mention Thor's loud cheering and the greasy pizza. She curled up against the window in the passenger seat of Loki's car with her head propped under her elbow. It didn't take long for the subtle rumble from the car to lull her to sleep.

Loki glanced over at her as he drove through the long winding highway roads back home. He set the cruise control to the speed limit as he questioned her, "Are you awake?"

Sif shifted in her sleep, but did not reply. He knew she could still be mad at him and pretending to sleep to lower his guard and make him confess to her in her sleep. Loki sighed as he kept his eyes on the road. He knew what he was going to tell her regardless of if she was asleep or not.

"I can't tell you the full truth, not yet anyway. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this. It's selfish of me but I have to deal with this first," he began slowly. "I just need time to wrap my head around this. It's the biggest thing that has ever happened to me and I don't know how to handle it. I keep looking around and expecting everything to change drastically but nothing is. It's all internal. I have been changed and I just... I just feel like I'm on the edge and the slightest thing is going to send me right over," he continued to ramble on. Loki sighed to himself once he finished. "That's all it is."

It didn't take long after Loki's ramble for them to arrive at Sif's apartment complex. He prodded her awake gently. "Sif, you're home. You should go to bed. We've got class in the morning."

Sif looked at him before she nodded slowly and got out of the car. "Have a good night," she murmured sleepily as she dug into her pockets for her keys before shutting the car door. Loki waited until she got inside the building before heading off to his own apartment. 

He kicked off his shoes by the door and shuffled across the apartment to his room. He collapsed on his bed with a groan before digging his phone out of his pocket. He saw a new message from Sif and opened it instantly. 

_Let me know when you get home so I know you get there safely_.

Loki quickly messaged her back to appease her.

_I'm home_

His phone buzzed instantly.

_See you in the morning. P.S. I won't say anything to Thor. You can relax._

Loki flipped onto his back and stared up at his ceiling. He didn't fully understand why Sif was going along with his lies, but he hoped it was because she could see that he needed her as a friend right now. He hadn't meant for this whole thing to get so out of control or to involve her in it. He definitely hadn't meant to involve his feelings for her. Maybe she knew now that he liked her in more than just a friendly way. Maybe she didn't. Either way he wasn't going to let his feelings get in the way again. He just couldn't allow that loss of control on his part. Loki knew he needed to get his shit together but he was just struggling like he had told Sif when she was sleeping. 

Loki propped his head up underneath his pillow.

Maybe soon, he could trust her with everything, but for now, he'd have to keep his secrets to himself.


	3. Familiar lies and oblivious smiles

Sif wasn't sure if Loki was trying to avoid her because of the threat she had made last night in Thor's or if the visit to his brother had drained him of all his strength to wake up in the morning, but Loki's absence in class weighed heavily on her mind and distracted her more than once when the teacher had called on her. She sent a message to him after class, hoping he would reply back.

_Are you okay? You missed class._

An hour passed and she frowned at her phone while digging into another late breakfast bagel. She sent him another message. Maybe he just forgot to reply back to her.

_Let me know if you want to study tonight or not._

By the time she had finished her last class of the day, she still had not gotten a message back from him and now a knot in her stomach began to twist. Was something wrong? Had she scared him into running away? Was he dropping out of classes? Was he going- Her phone buzzed and silenced all the thoughts in her mind. 

_Sorry. I thought hit send on my message this morning. I'm not feeling well. Staying home to hopefully feel better.😓_

Sif typed out a message and sent it. 

_Want some soup? I can pick some up for you if you want._

Sif headed out of her class and to the elevator. Her phone buzzed while she waited for the elevator to arrive at her floor.

_Please. I would owe you big time._

Her phone buzzed again as he sent her his address. Sif made a quick detour to one of the campus restaurants and got him a bowl of the soup of the day. She walked to his apartment and Sif knocked hesitantly on the door. She heard Loki fiddling with the locks before the door squeaked open. He looked terrible but not like he had been sick. His red eyes and nose made him vaguely look like he had been crying. He stepped aside and let her in. 

"You look awful," Sif told him as she looked around at his apartment. His apartment was pretty spacious. The living room and kitchen were open to each other. The kitchen had plenty of counter space and cabinets. The television was playing softly in the living room. 

"I feel awful," Loki answered, gesturing toward one of the open kitchen counters. "Thank you for bringing me soup."

"No problem! It was my turn to buy food anyways," Sif remarked setting the bag on the counter before fishing out his soup for him and her sandwich. "I hope chicken noodle is fine."

Loki took his soup and went to the living room to sit on the couch. "It's the best," Loki said quietly as he grabbed one of the blankets from the couch and wrapped it around himself.

"Did you want company?" Sif inquired slowly before taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"Yes, if you don't mind," Loki replied without looking at her.

Sif grabbed her sandwich and plopped down on the couch beside him. She laughed to herself as Loki attempted to cool off the soup by blowing on it gently. She aimed her phone's camera at Loki and took a quick picture of him blowing on the soup. "Perfect face. Thank you!"

Loki looked at her with surprise, "You didn't-"

"I did."

"But-"

"Uh-uh, no buts. You are my fake boyfriend remember?" Sif began as she posted the picture on her story and tagged Loki in the picture. "I take silly photos of my real boyfriends all the time so you've got to put up with this."

Loki set down his soup causing Sif to look up from her phone. "I'm sorry." He all but whispered to her. "I'm so sorry for dragging you into this mess of mine. You don't deserve this. You shouldn't be pretending to be in a relationship with me either." 

Sif closed her phone and set it aside. She grabbed his hand and scooted closer to him. "Loki, you're my friend. I'm here for you. I care about you."

"But I lied-"

"It wouldn't be the first time you've lied about something," Sif interrupted him with a shrug of her shoulders. "Besides, whatever this is about, it seems far more serious than you trying to prank someone or make mischief like you usually do." Loki tried to interrupt her but Sif continued, "And whatever this is about, I hope you can trust me one day to tell me about it." She squeezed his hand lightly, hoping she had reached him through her little monologue. 

Loki squeezed her hand back which caused Sif to grin. He looked away from her as his face turned red with... embarrassment, right? "You're the best, Sif. I mean it." His grip grew tighter before he let go and regrabbed his soup, making an attempt to eat for the day. "I can change the show if you want," he suggested with a gesture toward the television.

Sif leaned back against the couch and took a bit eof her sandwich, "What is it?"

"Just an anime. Like I said, if you dont want to watch it-" 

"No, I meant the show," Sif interrupted, covering her mouth as she spoke around the food in her mouth. 

"Is It Wrong To Try to Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?" Loki answered as he sipped at his soup. 

"No, but we were talking about the show," Sif joked, wondering how fast he'd catch on.

"It's the name..." He began to answer until he saw the big grin on Sif's face when he glanced over at her. "You're messing with me."

"I mean if you're really that desperate to pick up girls-" Sif laughed to herself until she was hit in the face with a pillow.

"You deserved that." Loki answered, setting his soup back on the table. 

"So you're not interested in girls? I'll let the guys know!" Sif exclaimed and another pillow hit her in the face again. 

She grabbed it before Loki could retract it and pried it from his grip so that she could whack him in the face with it for once. Loki managed to grab the pillow before it hit him. The two wrestled over the couch pillow for a moment until someone bumped into the coffee table and sent Loki's soup tumbling to the floor. Loki let go and picked up the now-empty container before hurrying into the kitchen to grab paper towels to clean up the mess. Sif apologized but Loki assured it her was no big deal. 

"Thank you, Sif, for everything," Loki told her once they had resettled on the couch. 

Sif shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "It's what friends are for." Her phone buzzed with a new message from Thor in response to the picture she took of Loki. 

_Reminds me of when we were kids! Some things never change_! 

Sif smiled to herself as she recalled the many occasions of going over to the Odinsons house after school. Loki was more likely to get sick whenever flu season hit and since she lived next door to them, she was always tasked with bringing them their homework. 

There was a knock at the door and Loki looked over at it in confusion. "Sorry, I'm not expecting anyone else," Loki went to the door and glanced through the spy hole. Sif watched him out of the corner of her eye and could see Loki frowning before opening the door and stepping out into the hall. 

Sif could hear Loki's voice, albeit a bit muffled so she wasn't quite exactly sure what he was saying but she did catch bits and pieces of the conversation. "Not a good time- You should have called- She's just a friend- It's nothing, I promise- Another time. Call me next time please." It had sounded like he had been talking to a woman but whoever he had been talking too talked much quieter than Loki did. 

Sif turned back to her phone and pretended to be absorbed by it when she heard Loki reenter his apartment. She looked up at him as he sat down beside her, chewing on his bottom lip nervously. "You feeling better?" Sif asked him, knowing that it was probably not the best time to press him on whatever had just happened.

Loki ignored her for a moment as he was seemingly wrapped up in his own mind. Sif swore she could hear the gears in his head processing something. He took a minute as he looked over at her in confusion before the question registered in his mind. "Oh, yes. I feel a little better. Thanks," he answered unconvincingly. 

Sif gave him a small smile, "Good." She leaned back against the couch as the show started. Loki propped his head up with his hand on the arm of the couch, mind still turning and processing things. Sif felt her eyes droop close as the warmth of the room and soft cushioning on the couch helped to lull her to sleep. Sleepily she curled up against the arm of the couch with a yawn.

Loki glanced over at her as she shifted. She looked exhausted earlier when she had knocked on his door with lunch for both of them. He grabbed a small blanket that had been draped over the back of the couch and covered her with it gently. She shifted again but didn't stir awake. He wondered briefly if she had maybe worried about him all day. Did she care about him more than just...? The thought was quickly shut down in his head. Everything in his head hurt too much right now for him to deal with his unrequited crush on Sif.

He looked back at the door to his apartment. And why did _she_ have to show up now of all times? He certainly hadn't been expecting her to drop by anytime soon. Did she want something from him? The thought of it made his stomach twist and turn. He closed his eyes to tried to calm down. It's nothing to get worked up about. It was nothing, wasn't it?


End file.
